Top White House cyber adviser Anne Neuberger makes the rounds in Europe

She'll look to elevate cybersecurity among NATO partners as Russia's military buildup along the border of Ukraine continues.

A top U.S. cyber official is in Europe this week to “elevate cybersecurity as a top-tier priority at NATO and with international partners,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters Tuesday morning.

Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, starts her trip in Brussels to meet with counterparts at NATO and the European Union to discuss “deterring, disrupting, and responding to further Russian aggression against Ukraine, neighboring states, and in our respective countries,” the official said.

Neuberger also will make a stop in Warsaw to meet with Polish and other Baltic region officials. The week also will include “virtual meetings” with German and French officials.

The trip comes as Russian military buildup along its border with Ukraine continues, and cyberattacks against Ukrainian government and nongovernmental organizations continue unabated. The U.S. and other NATO governments say military escalation could happen at any time and that the Russian government is looking for — or perhaps willing to manufacture — a pretext to escalate its war on Ukraine.

Russian officials say the U.S. and its allies are pushing for war, and Ukrainian officials say that although the threats are real, U.S. proclamations are stirring “panic.”

Victor Zhora, a top cyber official in Ukraine, told CyberScoop on Monday that his country appreciates help from the U.S. and other Western governments in sorting through the cyberattacks that pepper his country. The latest — a phishing attack using purported emails from the National Health Service — was announced Monday, two days after another phishing attack using compromised judiciary emails was announced. Both come after some government systems were wiped in an attack on Jan. 14, as well as dozens of agencies’ websites defaced.

All of it follows years of Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine dating back to 2014.

The U.S. government and private U.S. cyber companies have long warned about and detailed the Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine, including the more recent iterations. U.S. officials say the current spate of attacks is designed to destabilize Ukraine and help pave the way for military escalation, and that even with coordination to harden against digital intrusions, some will succeed and response and recovery help is part of the plan.

UK spy chief labels AI ‘unstoppable force’ with offensive, defensive ramifications for cyberspace

Anne Keast-Butler, head of the GCHQ, said her agency was developing an artificial intelligence-powered cyber shield as other nations were deploying AI in warfare.

FBI, CISA issue PSA on Russian intelligence campaign to target messaging apps

US charges hacker tied to Russian groups that targeted water systems and meat plants

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

• Jail time for Maine child in 764 marks turning point in federal law enforcement

Technology

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

• The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Threats

• Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

• Dogged Russia-based botnet dismantled after 23-year run

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure